Quote:One day cricket is set for its biggest overhaul as the International Cricket Council proposes a new league of 13 nations with the top two teams playing off in a final.
The plans, which will be discussed at the ICC’s annual general meeting later this month, will come into force from 2019 and are aimed at finally giving context to bilateral tours.
It is proposed teams will play a three-match series, either home or away, against every other country, amounting to 36 ODIs each over a three-year basis.
The league would be used to determine automatic qualification, and seedings, for the World Cup, and the side finishing bottom will face relegation to the World Cricket League Championship, the second tier of one-day cricket.
Teams would also be free to organise extra ODIs, but these would not count towards the league.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/...ne-day-cr/
This would be good news for the Associate teams as it would ensure more matches against the top teams. I am all in favour of that. However, my one concern with the format is it will be unbalanced/unfair in that teams don't get to play each other home and away. For example, England getting to play Australia at home, but then not having a return series at some point in Australia gives England a distinct advantage. Similarly, India playing at home against England, but no return series gives them a big advantage.
I believe the only way it would be possible to have guaranteed home/away series would be to have two groups of seven with promotion and relegation. The downside to two groups is the Associate teams would most likely miss out on the revenue from playing the top teams.